1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication between legacy software stacks and corresponding device software when direct communication is not possible, for example when an operating system of a computer no longer provides native support. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to end-to-end communication between legacy software protocol stacks and corresponding device software through the use of a Device Service Streams (DSS) feature of a Mobile Broadband Interface Model (MBIM).
2. Background Information
Hardware and software technology advancements, as well as increases in communication data transfer rates, are often accompanied by a corresponding desire to decrease complexity. Whereas a device that previously supported multiple functions required multiple interfaces and associated requisite hardware and software, many modern device implementations attempt to achieve similar functionality through multiplexing control and data traffic for those functions over a single interface. This allows device manufacturers to reduce hardware cost and to theoretically reduce software requirements because minimizing the number of interfaces translates into fewer drivers that need to be installed and loaded to operate the interfaces.
However, if a software stack controlling this single interface (which carries multiplexed control and data traffic for multiple device functions) does not support communication with existing, i.e., legacy, software stacks, then a promise of an overall reduction in software requirements and thereby cost may be difficult, if not impossible, to achieve. As used herein, legacy software (protocol stack) denotes existing software that was previously used to communicate with “like” (similar) services on a device. Device manufacturers may be justifiably reluctant to fund a massive rewrite of legacy software in order to simply maintain the same level of functionality as was achievable in the past. This situation results in the additional backlash effect of a potential negative impact on the adoption of such technology.